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Cathedral Park Association

Cathedral Park Association (CPA)

CPA, named to honor the cemetery on the south side of Girard Avenue, works within its tightly knitted neighborhood to improve quality of life for all of its residents. The love of community in the organization has enabled it to retain most of the original founding members as current and functioning board members.

CPA hosts an after-school program. The program provides homework help, tutoring and mentoring. The Cathedral Park After-School Program has been in existence for the past eight years.

Volunteers run the program that includes several extensions to the after-school program. An upcoming music program will be instituted soon and when the George’s Institute renovations are completed, trips to the library will be reinstituted. The CPA offices located officially at 4948 West Stiles Street are under the Carroll Park Community NAC.

Mission

Cathedral Park Association focuses on education and decent housing. Founded in the seventies, Cathedral Park Association is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization. This organization was organized and setup under the direction of its founder and president emeritus Catherine Minnis to address:
• Economic and housing issues caused by redlining.
• Lack voice in the community, and the right to be heard and responded to respectfully.
• Lack of communications between community ethnic groups, and
• The need for neighborhood physical and intellectual improvement

Collaborations

CPA is well known for its ability to work with partners and has collaborated with Habitat for Humanity International to create Habitat for Humanity West Philadelphia. Habitat for Humanity/West Philadelphia was setup to redevelop the 4900 block of Stiles Street and at the same time create affordable homes for deserving individuals who otherwise could not find decent housing. By gutting and rebuilding the 75% abandoned houses on Stiles Street, CPA and Habitat for Humanity West Philadelphia sustained the block. The 4900 Block of Stiles Street is now a vibrant and healthy block, which has caused block’s property values to increase.

For well over ten years, CPA has supported redevelopment of the 4900 block of Girard Avenue. Marred by many vacant lots and vacant structures, Girard Avenue is a key gateway to this West Philadelphia Community. It is hopeful that within the next few years CPA’s support of development of housing in its community will uplift the quality of life in the “whole” neighborhood.